hair dryer
by paws-bells
Summary: ItaSaku AU. Today was, simply put, the day from hell. How could her hair dryer turn traitor on her like that! Life was so unfair, and that arrogant Uchiha was definitely not helping any!


**Title:** #33, hair dryer

**Author:** paws-bells

**Characters/Pairing: **Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Itachi

**Type:** One-shot (Complete)

**Genre:** General/Romance

**Word Count:** 6403

**Theme:** LJ Community, 50shinobi theme #33; hair dryer

**Rating: **T (Contains content not suitable for children)

**Disclaimer:** Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san.

**Summary:** AU. Today was simply the day from hell. She had just witnessed an attempted murder, was now dripping wet and only covered in a small towel, the extremely arrogant policeman was refusing to leave her toilet and to top it off she had just been attacked by her traitor of a hair dryer. Life was so unfair!

**A/N:** I'm not dead. I'm just busy shifting to a new house, and that kinda makes me wish that I'm dead. Don't worry; I'm not discontinuing any of my Naruto fics, just putting them on hold for a little while. Please understand that I currently do not have long periods of time to spend on my continuous works, but one-shots like these are simply my way of de-stressing. You can expect more of these in the near future, and this is my little peace offering to all ItaSaku fans out there. Enjoy if you can, people.

**Chapter Last Revised on:** 02/12/07

* * *

The woman sure knew how to scream, Itachi thought with mild irritation as the pink-haired female continued to assault his sensitive eardrums with loud shrills of displeasure.

"Cease the racket." The Uchiha intoned calmly to the wet, hysterical woman clad in only a small towel. "Nobody is going to hear you."

Sakura was almost frothing at the mouth at the bored tone of the stranger standing oh so casually at the threshold of her bathroom. Her bathroom!! What right did he have to speak to her thusly?!! Fear for her own safety was immediately forgotten in the face of her growing anger.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?!" Sakura shrieked at the tall raven-haired male with the mysterious onyx eyes and the unbelievably arrogant countenance. She had just stepped out from her shower and the first thing she saw was this unknown man standing at the other end of the small room. It wasn't exactly a sight she was quite prepared for and it was a damn good thing that she had wrapped herself up before leaving the stall if not the bloody intruder standing so very nonchalantly across from her would be in for something much more drastic than her high pitched screams.

Itachi was hardly intimidated by the woman's fierce tone. After all, it was quite hard to be intimidated by such a petite female who looked so defenseless and clothed in only a tiny scrap of a towel.

"You are Haruno Sakura, are you not?"

It wasn't a question for his benefit; it was for hers. He was fully aware that this was indeed the female who had witnessed the attempted murder of his father early this morning. She was the only person he had seen with pink hair that stood out like a sore thumb and from what he had gathered she had behaved quite impressively from the very moment she had walked in on the attack. In fact, it was mentioned that his father had only made it to the hospital alive thanks to her quick thinking and effective first aid. He really ought to be thanking her on behalf of his entire clan but unfortunately he was not feeling at all thankful at the moment. His father's attacker was still running free somewhere out there and the pressure to capture the assailant who had dared assault one of theirs had been grating on his nerves the entire day.

Itachi was hardly in the mood to be civil.

His highly impersonal tone had her eying him oddly.

He was certainly not the typical run-of-the-mill burglar that she had expected nor did he appear like a rapist to her; throughout their entire exchange he had looked her straight in the eye and nowhere else. Finally calming down enough to analyze the situation from a different angle Sakura decided that this man's unwelcome visit might have something to do with the high profile attack that she had inadvertently witnessed today. That and the fact that she had finally noticed that he was dressed in some sort of formal police regalia; the overwhelming amount of badges and stars that adorned the front of his uniform as well as down both his shoulders quickly informed her that she was probably speaking to some over glorified detective or officer of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Force.

Come to think of it now this man did look a little familiar to her. Sakura was almost sure that she had seen him at the scene of the crime earlier on, examining the tightly cordoned area with a small group of officers as she waited for the police vehicle to escort her down to the Tokyo police district to record her statement. He had never spoken to her directly though and she had no idea who he was, but she did manage to overhear a little when one of the officers spoke to him. Now if she could only remember what the other policeman had addressed him by.

Fidgeting uncomfortably now at the reminder of the morbid scene that she had stumbled across earlier that day, Sakura nodded warily at last to his curt question.

Itachi inclined his head once in response to her silent admission.

"Very well, Sakura-san." The man spoke again, his smooth tenor voice low and oddly lilting. It would have sounded most pleasing if he wasn't so monotonous. "I am here to see to your safety, as well as to ensure your cooperation in the investigation of the attempted assassination of the Police Commissioner that you have witnessed early this morning."

His explanation for his unexpected presence worked to calm her down to some semblance of normalcy but she was still quite irritated by his rude appearance, not to mention a little offended that he had to put in the 'ensure your cooperation' part. She had been nothing but cooperative today!!

The pink-haired female huffed to herself and narrowed her eyes at the man. Civil servant or no, he was entirely too much!

"I believe that I have been very cooperative with this investigation, thank you very much; and by the way you have no right to just barge in here and-"

"You have switched off your cell phone for the past two hours and have also pulled out your phone line so that you cannot be contacted. I would hardly call that cooperative, Sakura-san." The tall, lean male interrupted effortlessly, the long raven hair tied at his nape slipping down the side of his neck to trail down the front of his collar as he shifted slightly to lean against her doorframe.

Now he made it sound like it was all her fault that he had to break into her house.

Sakura glared at the annoyingly blasé officer standing across from her. Without the aid of her spectacles she had to squint hard across the short distance between them to read the small string of kanji engraved elegantly on his name badge. The fact that he was adorned with so many ribbons and stars and shiny, reflective thingies didn't make her task any easier and by the time she could read the vague outline of his name she was wondering grumpily why this man was still alive; it was beginning to be very obvious to her that he was a walking lightning rod.

Irritably, Sakura rolled his name around her mind a few times before her memory clicked. Ah, now she remembered what that officer had addressed this man as earlier. She even remembered wondering why anyone would want to name their kid after a popular brand of household appliances. She was beyond caring though, at the moment.

The petite female was bristling with righteous anger as she geared herself for a long argument, never mind that her opponent was a police officer who could throw her behind bars for obstruction of justice if she so much as put a toe out of line. _He was clearly in the wrong and she was not going to budge until he admitted it, the pig. _

"Look here, _Hitachi-san_, I have just witnessed an extremely appalling act of violence today; I think I deserve a little alone time to sort out my thoughts without having either the police or the members of the press crawling all over me—and that still does not excuse the fact that you have invited yourself into my home without my expressly granted permission. That would be commonly known as breaking in, _Sir_."

If Itachi was a lesser man he would have twitched at the woman's sheer audacity. Instead, he chose to ignore her insult, though the fact that she was all puffed up and glaring indignantly at him was rather amusing. She was so much smaller than him; did she really think that she could take him on? That she was trying her best to intimidate him all the same was so laughable that he would have smiled had they been in a different situation. However, Itachi was in no mood to be cheerful at the moment; someone had dared to attack his family and he was going to make sure that they pay—dearly.

And this bad-tempered female standing before him was the only clue he had that would lead him to the perpetrator of his father's near deadly attack.

The Uchiha's pokerfaced expression did not change.

"You are the only key witness. Your sudden missing status had been most unacceptable. Forgive me if I had to take drastic measures to ensure your safety, Sakura-san. You may want to take a page from your landlady; she was most cooperative in gaining me entry into your apartment."

Sakura was immediately driven more incensed by his unruffled, mildly mocking reply. How dare he?!! Not only had he managed to convince that unbelievably pain in the backside landlady of hers to let him into her house he had also implied that she was being most unhelpful and difficult in this investigation! It wasn't as if she had planned to walk in on the assassin today! She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!

Sakura was literally trembling with renewed agitation by now. She was about to open her mouth to lambaste the horridly rude man when the rest of his sentences caught up to her. Twice now he had emphasized on her 'safety'. Sakura promptly stiffened at the implications as her eyes flew up to meet his with rising alarm.

"What so you mean that you have to 'ensure my safety'?" The pink-haired female demanded suspiciously. "I'm not in any danger, am I?"

At least she did possess some shred of self-preservation. Itachi stared at her for a short moment before affirming her question with a small downward tilt of his head. Now he only had to hope that she wasn't the type to go into hysterics at the mere mention of peril. She would be useless to him if she did and his current mood wasn't exactly very accommodating towards shrill, panicking females; not that he was the very understanding type in the first place but his tolerance was sorely lacking at this moment.

The board had almost pulled him out of this case three hours ago and after a round of intense argument the only way they would allow him to continue investigating his father's brutal attack was to have him take on yet another assignment that they had all but forcefully shouldered over to him. To say that Uchiha Itachi was currently in a dangerous mood would not be an understatement; the normally placid male absolutely_ despised_ to be coerced into something he didn't want and the fact that the organization had shoved him into this high-level position was propelling his agitation into overdrive.

It was most unfortunate that Sakura was the first person to meet his icy wrath head on; her address was the first place he had headed for when one of his officers informed him of her uncontactable status and so far the normally diplomatic male was being uncharacteristically blunt and harsh in his dealings with this pink-haired witness of his.

"It is entirely possible that the killer may return to remove any links that may lead back to him." The Uchiha answered curtly, not wanting to waste time explaining something that was rather obvious to his point of view

Sakura did not agree. His hard tone made her frown. What was this man's problem anyway? If he wasn't hostile earlier, he definitely was now. The female scowled harder. Well, he was not the only one entitled to be annoyed today. She had suffered her share of irritations today as well and currently he was sitting right at the top of her rather lengthy list.

Sakura heaved a frustrated sigh. This was just great; a little while ago she was a key witness, now she was reduced to being a mere 'link'. As if this day hadn't already been bad enough; there was now a likelihood that someone might want to off her because of what she had seen this morning. Sakura just knew that she should never have gotten out of bed today.

"Have you watched the news already?"

The sudden question promptly threw Sakura off track. She stared at this Officer Hitachi oddly. Weren't they just talking about how the killer might want her dead? She shook her head all the same, her irritation deflating somewhat to be replaced by budding worry for her own safety.

"Not yet." Sakura admitted. "I didn't have the chance to switch on the TV or even read the newspaper yet."

This certainly explained why she was not at all aware of his recently elevated status or his familial relationship to the critically injured Chief of Police. The news coverage for his new appointment had been ridiculously massive and the long, drawn out press conference had been the reason why he was decked out in this extremely restricting and uncomfortable uniform. Of course, it was not improving his current disposition at all and the fact that his true identity was not the only thing that she was unaware of was making him even more irritated than ever.

As if his day hadn't already been bad enough some idiot on the lower ranks had to go and shoot his mouth off to the press and thanks to some gross miscommunication this seemingly featherbrained woman standing before him was now put in a most precarious position. And once again it was just his luck that he had to be the one to break the piece of bad news to her. It didn't take much for Itachi to decide to fulfill this matter as quickly as possible and formerly impassive onyx eyes were purposely injected with mild impatience as he explained her current situation to her in as blunt and succinct a manner as he could manage.

Angry women were a lot easier to manage than crying ones, after all.

"There was a news leak to the media. Your formerly undisclosed connection to this case has been badly compromised. It is highly probable that the killer is now aware of your existence and your position as key witness is putting you in great danger. This is most disadvantageous for you and while you will be put under a strict 24-hour police surveillance from now on it will be in your best interest to give us your complete cooperation if you wish for your life to return to some semblance of normalcy as soon as possible."

His insensitively delivered sentences hit her like a punch to the gut. For the longest time Sakura could not seem to comprehend what this police/detective/whatever was trying to say, and then the color on her face faded and she became a lot paler than usual. To Itachi's appreciation she did not get all teary and hysterical on him but neither was she reacting very well to his explanation on the other hand. She seemed to be in some sort of suspended animation and despite himself the Uchiha felt slightly responsible for frightening her thusly.

Everything that had happened so far was not her fault after all; like him she had been forced to adhere to the present situation by a series of most unfortunate circumstances and if anything he should be feeling grateful that she was volunteering to be a witness and not keeping her silence like most people would have. The Uchiha felt his turbulent agitation subside slightly. He could have handled her a lot more carefully than he had but he had just chosen not to.

Poor Sakura was in shock. The little female was not ashamed to admit that she had been sheltered her entire life and now that something like this was abruptly thrown onto her lap she had no idea how to react. She was just a regular intern working at the nearby hospital! This was not supposed to happen to her and now that it had the inexperienced female was hard-pressed not to panic. It all sounded so very serious and she was only starting to slowly accept the fact that she had just seen a person get shot today. Now someone might want to kill her as well so as to ensure her silence in the matter. It was…highly distressing.

Her sudden anxiety must have been near palpable to the man standing before her for he pushed away from the doorframe and took a step closer to her. "Do not worry." He was a lot gentler this time around compared to the awfully dismissive manner that he had employed on her earlier but she was just too anxious at the moment to appreciate his sudden change, however. "No harm will be allowed to befall you."

Sakura did not answer; his slight movement had alerted her to the gleam of dull metal that was partially concealed within the holster resting by his right hip. It was a standard issued handgun and the sight of it immediately reminded her of the sickening sounds of gunfire that she had heard that morning. And now that she thought of it once more, the silhouette of the person whom she had seen slipping quickly out from the boardroom fit the lean and sleekly muscled frame of the male standing before her to a T.

Almost immediately, it also occurred to her that he had her neatly trapped in her bathroom.

Could this person be impersonating a police to gain entry into her apartment? The old biddy that was her landlady was extremely suspicious of people but even she would not deny entry to an officer of the law. Sakura's wariness increased. Of course it was entirely possible; wasn't that how those professional assassins always operated in movies and books? They sneak into their victims' homes under the guise of someone else and once the targets had their guards down they attack, and it was only when it was all too late that that police would arrive.

The pink-haired female grimaced inwardly. The police _always_ came too late. This guy, on the other hand, could not even wait for her to answer her door.

Still in shock and obviously not thinking clearly at the moment the pink-haired female shivered unconsciously and felt the fine hairs on her arms stand up eerily. Panicking, alarm bells went off in her head and she sidled warily to her vanity top and quickly pressed herself firmly against it. The dull bite of the edge of the marble top against her towel-clad back reassured her for some reason and unconsciously Sakura's mind started to whirl frantically to find a way out of this situation.

Distract him. She needed to distract him enough to find a leverage, and then get herself out of here.

"Hitachi-san." Sakura spoke cautiously at last, her voice uncharacteristically soft as she tried hard to keep her suspicions at bay. "You mentioned 'we' earlier. Where exactly are the rest of the officers?"

Now, Itachi may not have known this woman for a long period of time but even it was obvious to him that something was very off about the way she was behaving right now. Earlier on she had been angered and aggravated and her reactions genuine but now it was as if she was treading extremely cautiously around him. Itachi eyed her intently. At the same time he wondered what she was doing with her hands behind her back and if she was fully aware that the large mirror mounted onto the wall behind her was all but broadcasting each and every one of her awkwardly blind fumbles across the vanity top to him.

"Itachi." He deigned to speak at last, deciding to distract her until he could figure out her odd behavior.

Sakura frowned, not understanding his odd reply at all.

"What?"

"My name is Uchiha Itachi, not Hitachi."

Despite herself Sakura's frown deepened at the new information. "Your parents named you after a weasel?" She blurted out before she could stop herself. She promptly grimaced. Good one, Sakura. Irritate him some more. Way to go. He narrowed his eyes at her and the pink-haired female started to panic even more. "Uh, not that Itachi is a bad name, of course. It's a great name! Very…original…" She immediately trilled a nervous laugh for good measure, then winced inwardly when she realized how very fake she sounded. He was definitely going to be on to her very soon!

The Uchiha spared her a strange glance. It was rather obvious to him that she still had not connected his name to that of his parent…_and what on earth was she doing clutching on to a hairdryer with an almost white-knuckled grip? _

"There is a current shortage of police personnel at the moment so my officers will not be here until at least an hour later." His calm explanation to her question distressed her further and her paranoia increased twofold. This was almost too coincidental. Sakura's hold on her hairdryer tightened painfully. It would be her only defense against this larger male if things really did went wrong.

"Sakura-san, is there something wrong?" Itachi asked carefully then. Her anxiety was so blatant now that he was getting suspicious.

She shook her head so quickly and frantically that it was obvious to him _something was indeed very wrong_. Onyx eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "No! I mean, no. Of course there is nothing wrong. Erm. Listen…can you…can you let me change into something first before we resume this conversation?"

He stared at her for so long that Sakura tensed. Dark eyes roved intently over her face as if trying to determine something; then he nodded at last but before she could relax he posed a question to her that had her stiffening back up once more.

"Why are you holding on to that hairdryer for?"

Sakura panicked immediately.

In the blink of an eye the pink-haired female whipped the electrical device around and pointed it at the baffled Uchiha.

"Don't come any nearer!" Sakura blurted out quickly. "And let me out of my bathroom right now; I'm not above using this on you, Mr. Whoever-You-Really-Are!!"

Itachi blinked once at the defiant-looking female who was waving her hairdryer wildly about.

"You are not above using your hairdryer on me?" He questioned mildly, looking quite nonplussed as he did so. Was this woman insane?

"Yes! No! I mean, I will use it to injure you if you try anything funny, alright?! Let me out of my bathroom now!" Sakura sputtered. The fact that this 'Uchiha Itachi' appeared hardly alarmed by her blustering threats drove her panic to even higher levels.

This almost surreal situation was so hilarious that Itachi would have laughed if it wasn't for the fact that she looked genuinely terrified. It didn't take much for him to derive that she was suspicious of him and thought that he might not be who he appeared to be.

"I'm not planning to do you any harm, Sakura-san." The Uchiha decided to reason calmly with her. "Think; if I really want to kill you, would I have wasted my time informing you of my motives first?"

Well shucks.

He made perfect sense of course, but she was still nowhere near prepared to let go of her makeshift weapon. The frantic look in her eyes subsided some though.

"Prove it." She whispered suspiciously.

Once again, Itachi was stumped. Handling clearly-insane females was not something that he was experienced in and if not for the fact that he would leave her open to the real threat he would have left her there and then and waited for the reinforcements to arrive to handle her instead. However, that was not an acceptable option right now and so he would just have to lower himself to convince her that he was harmless—at least to her.

Besides, the Uchiha thought wryly, it was probably his own fault in the first place for trying to scare her into submission. Itachi was learning quickly that this pink-haired witness of his was not at all like any other whom he had come across before. When faced with threats to their safety most people would definitely be more than willing to meekly cooperate and follow instructions but she was definitely not normal. After all, she had somehow managed to turn his plans around and give him more things to do instead, and as much as he wanted to begrudge her for all the needless trouble that she was putting him through Itachi could not deny the small spark of curiosity that she had ignited in him.

"…And what would I have to do to prove my innocence?" The tall raven-haired male asked sardonically as he silently resigned himself to his fate.

Sakura swallowed and bit her lips in thought.

"Prove that you really are a police officer." She challenged, vivid green eyes flashing with blatant distrust. For now he would be guilty until proven innocent, and Sakura was definitely not apologetic about her lack of faith in this man. This was her life that they were talking about after all; she refused to be careless with it.

Itachi's eyebrow went straight up at her demand. He looked at her with growing incredulity in his eyes. He had came straight from the appointment at the _Keishicho_ and was most obviously dressed in formal police regalia; if this didn't prove that he was a member of the force he didn't know what would convince her.

"Do you know who I am?" He asked her instead.

She frowned at him.

"You claim to be Uchiha Itachi." She answered him reluctantly.

In response to her obvious doubts, he pulled out his badge from his back pocket and tossed it across the small room to her. Surprised by the quick action, she nearly dropped it and had to juggle awkwardly with her hairdryer before she caught it properly. He wondered if she was aware that he could have easily disarmed her in the blink of an eye during her preoccupation, and when she flipped open the leather cover to confirm his identity and in the process actually taking her eyes off him he decided that she probably had no idea whatsoever.

After all, this was the woman who was currently threatening him with her hairdryer.

A small glint of reluctant amusement appeared in normally blank onyx eyes.

"I do not claim; I _am_ Uchiha Itachi." He informed her patiently. She still did not look very convinced despite the fact that his initials were printed clearly on the badge that was currently in her possession. Itachi suppressed a sigh and even though there was a tint of growing irritation at her mistrustful demeanor he was also experiencing a rare sense of humor. It was most uncommon to find anyone who would willingly call his bluff, and the fact that this little female was doing so repeatedly (and most rudely too) was amusing him to some degree. He appreciated it more than he knew, especially after such a grim day.

"Are you aware of the full name of the Chief of Police?" Itachi enquired almost politely.

Sakura frowned. What has this got to do with her demand to prove his identity? And of course she knew the Chief's name! She had heard it being bandied around the entire day today!

"Of course I know! Everyone is talking about him today, the poor man. Uchiha Fugaku…" _Uchiha_. Emerald eyes widened slightly in realization. "You are related to-"

"He is my father." Itachi answered immediately. Finally she has made the connection. "Now why would I want to kill my own father?"

Sakura was starting to feel very foolish. Now that he had mentioned it, she was quick to realize that there were actually quite a lot of physical resemblance between Itachi and the injured Police Commissioner whom she had helped save earlier today. Same raven hair, same dark onyx eyes, same proud patrician features, even the same high cheekbones though Itachi's was much more prominent than that of his sire.

Scratch that, Sakura wasn't even starting to feel foolish; she felt like she had just made a complete ass out of herself. She had just accused a genuine police officer of impersonation and _god knows what else_.

"Erm…"

The fact that the noisy woman was finally speechless and left without any rebuttals gave him more satisfaction that he thought possible. Itachi arched an eyebrow.

"Will you be willing to set down your…hairdryer now?"

It didn't take much for Sakura to decide that anger was definitely a much better choice than sheer mortification and immediately she bristled at that rich tenor of his. He was back to being condescending again but it was definitely nowhere as bad as earlier on. And judging from the slight glint in his eyes the pink-haired female had a nagging suspicion that he was laughing inwardly at her expense.

Embarrassment threatened to take her over.

"I didn't know that you were related to Uchiha-san, alright?" The pink-haired female mumbled.

"Of course." This time, a small smirk really did appear on that irritatingly smug face of his. Sakura gritted her teeth with anger. _Don't kill the nice policeman. Don't maim the nice policeman. Don't kick the nice policeman…_

"Quit laughing at me!" She burst out at last, emerald eyes sparkling with agitation.

Itachi merely lifted his eyebrow a notch higher. This little woman was certainly something else entirely. One moment she was so convinced that he was someone sent to kill her and the next she was at ease with him again. It was rather…interesting. Watching over her may not be as tedious as he had first thought, after all.

"Arrgh! I am definitely going to lodge a complaint to the acting Police Commissioner about you! When has the standard of Tokyo's police dropped to such an appalling level?" Sakura announced at that moment, pointing accusingly at him as she made her statement. Itachi merely eyed her with gleaming onyx eyes. He was beginning to realize that this confusing woman jumped from thought to thought so fast that it would be smarter for him to wait for her to tell him what was bothering her now. "You probably broke quite a few rules today; breaking into my house, barging into my toilet, threatening me, insulting me and looking at me…funny."

Sakura scowled just thinking of all the injustices that she had suffered today.

Itachi's lips twitched slightly at the female's disgruntlement as she continued rattling on. So that was what she was going on about. "…I hope that he fires you after he makes you apologize to me, you horrid…man!"

The Uchiha's smirk widened. He had a rare urge to chuckle but suppressed it instead. Most uncommon was a person who could make him crack a smile and anyone who could coax him into laughter was virtually unheard of. This woman was succeeding in tickling his humor and she wasn't even doing it intentionally. He decided that it was probably due to her extremely responsive nature. She was so quick to react to any external stimulus and was not at all shy about sharing her thoughts and opinions with anyone who had dared displeased her. It was a most refreshing trait and Itachi found himself most fascinated with it.

It really would be interesting to oversee her protection personally.

"That would be rather hard for the acting Chief to do, unfortunately."

The tall male drawled out at last when she had finally exhausted all her hot air and bluster. How odd it was that just less than half an hour of contact with this odd female had completely eased away from him an entire day's worth of frustration. Absently, Itachi wondered if he ought to be concerned by her unconscious effect on him but dismissed it at last. It was not that important now.

Emerald eyes narrowed as the Uchiha wandered nearer towards her.

He looked down at her aggrieved features and it amused him so much that he gave her a small grin. She was immediately stunned by handsome he looked and how she had never realized it at all until now. Sakura promptly turned bright red for noticing something like this, not to mention that she just remembered that she was still clad in only a towel and pretty much nothing else. She started to bear close resemblance to a tomato.

"And why not?" She demanded quickly to drive away any attention on her sudden embarrassment.

The grin widened a fraction, much to the pink-haired female's increasing irritation. Was this man put here solely to annoy her or something?!

"It would be impossible to fire myself, Sakura-san." His silky reply had her staring at him for a long time before the implications of his answer hit her.

Sakura could only gape at him in shock.

"_You are the acting Police Commissioner_?!!" The pink-haired female squeaked with pure disbelief.

She sounded so appalled by this newest piece of information that it was almost funny to him. It was well known among the bureau that he was the youngest prodigy ever produced in the force, his superior intellect and analytical skills highly prized and valued among the higher ranks. He was seldom challenged and always respected; and the fact that this little bit of a female was doing her best in doubting his abilities amused him to no end. The outraged expression on her face was almost enough to ease away the rest of his fury at being propelled into his current position.

He had been burdened with all sorts of expectations from everyone around him for as long as he could remember and more often than not the crippling weariness that he felt every time the pressure to surpass got too high by far outweighed the bland sense of satisfaction at having more than proved his worth time and again. Maybe he was getting burned out, maybe he was getting jaded but this petite female had managed to stir a rare sense of interest within him and Itachi was certainly not above taking advantage of this exhilarating feeling for as much as it was worth.

Watch out, Sakura, for Uchiha Itachi had just discovered his newest plaything.

He nodded and watched as her dismay became even more apparent; the humorous glint in onyx eyes becoming more pronounced than ever in response. "I was just appointed the rank an hour ago, actually." He commented almost innocently but the ever present smirk on his lips spoke the truth. Uchiha Itachi was _not_ innocent. "You will just have to bear with me, Sakura-san."

In response, the pink-haired female glared impotently at the tall man currently occupying a large portion of her personal bubble. She still could not believe that he was the acting Police Commissioner! Weren't those supposed to be old, fat and jolly? This Uchiha standing before her definitely did not look a day past twenty-five, was definitely not plump and definitely _not_ jolly. He was making her so aggrieved that Sakura wanted to howl with displeasure.

She settled for narrowing her eyes at him instead. Who cares whether if he is the acting Chief of Police or not? He was seriously pissing her off!

"Watch it, buster." Sakura snapped irritably at last. "I'm still holding on to my hairdryer, in case you already forgot."

A soft chuckle escaped from his lips as she started to shake the electrical appliance at him and promptly entangled her limbs with its wiring the very next moment. Itachi stared at the severely aggravated female with an almost warm light in his eyes.

"Of course, how could I forget? It is such a…devastating weapon." Firm lips curved in a slight smile once more and Sakura could not help it anymore.

She screamed with frustration and pointed immediately to the door, wire-knotted fingers and all.

"Arggh!! I have _had_ it with you!! _Out!! GET OUT!!_ "

"Are you sure you don't need me to rescue you from your hairdryer?" The Uchiha could not resist teasing softly. "It looks rather dangerous."

Sakura was almost ready to tear out her hair with aggravation. What was wrong with this man?!! Earlier on he was acting so cold and contemptuous of her and now it was as if he had taken a one-eighty degree turn in temperament and was almost _flirting_ playfully with her!! Sakura had no idea what to make of this unexpected change. Did he have split personality? Was he trying to drive her up the bloody wall?!!

Without thinking of the consequences the frustrated female growled and chucked the bloody hairdryer at the Uchiha as hard as she could manage it. She had had enough!! The hairdryer may be slightly entangled at the moment but he was still near enough for her to hopefully score a hit.

To her dismay, he dodged easily and because she was still effectively tethered to the appliance…

Well, what goes up must come down right?

The hairdryer reached the end of its tether quickly and was immediately jerked back. Sakura was so surprised that she didn't have the time to dodge.

Her trusty device promptly smacked loudly against that wide forehead of hers and-

Broke into two.

Stunned silence.

The bewildered pink-haired female could only stare at the individual pieces of her once quite functional hairdryer as her head started to throb and her eyes watered from the painful impact.

A slight sound echoed from beside her and Sakura slowly lifted her gaze up just in time to see the bloody Uchiha masking an amused cough from behind his hand.

"Well." Itachi commented dryly although his eyes told a different story. Those damned onyx orbs of his were dancing with laughter. _Dancing!!_ "It seems that even your mighty hairdryer could not do a thing to bring you down. My concern was for nothing after all. I shall wait for you in your living room then; we will discuss how the surveillance is going to work when you come out."

With that said the tall male retreated wisely from the small bathroom, closing the door silently behind him as he exited noiselessly, leaving a silent, _trembling_ woman in his wake.

The soft strains of masculine laughter that floated to her ears not ten seconds later had the aggrieved female stiffening back up.

Emerald eyes flared with renewed fire.

"_UCHIHA ITACHI!!_"

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::owari::

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**Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:**

It's rather hard to find a good AU fic with a mature Ita/Saku pairing. I hope that I didn't make a complete muck out of mine. Seriously, this one-shot has high possibilities of a continuation, or even a prelude. Or it can stand alone. I don't know. Let's see how your response would be like first.

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I know that Itachi is probably _severely_ OOC. But I cannot help but believe that this is the way he should turn out in another life, if his family treated him more like a human and less like a living weapon. Oh well, I can have my fantasies, yeah?

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The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department AKA _keishicho_ is not a figment of my imagination. It is a genuine law enforcement agency in Tokyo, Japan and has a staff of more than 40,000 police officers and over 2,500 civilian personnel. Do look up Wikipedia for more information about it.

The rank Police Commissioner/Chief of Police, however, is the product of my own decision. There is no such position in the TMPD. The highest rank they have there is actually the Superintendent-General.

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As for the entire 'Hitachi' thingy, I was on the road and evidently I was thinking too much about the plot for this fic when I looked up and saw a large truck embossed with the name 'Itachi'. Upon closer inspection I realized it was actually the electronics brand 'Hitachi' and immediately felt more than a little foolish for my mistake. I just had to add it in. I kept imagining the funny look on people's faces if they mistook _Itachi_ for _Hitachi_. They both sound quite alike after all. Not that Itachi is a very good name in the first place of course, but still…

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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic, thank you.

--paws


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